Tech Today: Barnes & Noble Considers Nook Spin-Off

The Barnes & Noble Inc. Nook Tablet display stands at a store in New York,

More Trouble for Barnes & Noble: The publisher said today that it is exploring a plan to separate its Nook e-reading and tablet business. The news comes as the publisher today cut its guidance for the current year. Barnes & Noble blamed the cut on a sales shortfall for its Nook Simple Touch device, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The company has attempted to find a buyer for months, but gave up last year after taking an investment from Liberty Media. Yesterday Barnes & Noble puts its publishing business, Sterling Publishing, up for sale.

In related news, mobile ad network Jumptap yesterday shared data on ads served by the Kindle Fire tablet launched late last year by Barnes & Noble rival Amazon.com. [WSJ, The Next Web, ZDNet, PaidContent]